One guy posted it on a Brazilian forum and then I found that it happens to me too: when Winamp 2.91 (my version) plays "one-track-disks" like live or some Pink Floyd's (eg, WYWH), even if there is no apparent track separation or at least it's not supposed to be, I hear that subtle "click" sound or something like a very brief silent pause between two tracks. What's wrong with that?

Default Cut-Off value = -40dB
I wouldn't go much higher than -30dB
A happy medium is -35dB, though the default -40dB should suffice.

eg. If you went as high as the maximum -15dB
then you will start to notice a fair few seconds of the actual music missing from the beginning & end of the track, so don't do it!

Note: As from Winamp 5.2 (with native gapless mp3 playback support), step 3 is only required if the mp3's weren't encoded with LameEnc 3.90.3 or later (the only mp3 encoder which does gapless encoding).

Important:
Changes to DirectSound Output config only take effect after playback is restarted!

_____________________________________________________________

Notes:

Step #1 only applies to Audio CD's.
Step #2 is global, for all audio formats
Step #3 is mainly for MP3 (because, unless encoded by Lame Enc 3.90.3 or higher, it isn't a gapless format by default) and for any other formats that were encoded with any silence at the beginning/end of the track.

If you still don't get perfect gapless playback for Audio CD's, then uncheck this option and use wnaspi32.dll instead.

Note, you might not need to use wnaspi32.dll under WinXP/2003 as the native Windows SCPTI might suffice, so try without any ASPI first. However, if an ASPI manager (wnaspi32.dll) is already present in your System dir then it will take precedence over SCPTI.

Also note, wnaspi32.dll is only required for Win2k/XP. The Adaptec ASPI Layer is already installed under Win9x.
There might already be an Adaptec or Nero wnaspi32.dll in your System32 dir under Win2k/XP. In which case, you might not need to replace it. But if you don't get gapless playback with it, then backup the old version and replace it with the Nero 5.5 version linked here.
Alternatively, you can use wnaspi32.dll from Nero 6 instead.
This version of wnaspi32.dll goes in the Winamp root dir instead of the %System% dir.

Again, you may need to restart Winamp for any in_cdda config changes to take effect.

See above link for full details.

----------------------------------------------

If having any problems with attaining gapless WMA or MIDI playback, then see the relevant posts below.

Tried all the above to no avail. Still have that tiny, split-second gap..... sometimes though, it lasts for a loooooong time (10 seconds or more) then starts the next track with a extra skip for good measure.

I've played around with the settings but the following seems to work best

Or, if video support was not installed...
You will need to replace the current version of in_wm.dll
with this older non-crippled version from Winamp 2.5

Basically, as from Winamp 2.60, the wma plugin licenced from Microsoft was hard-coded to use WaveOut only, therefore any changes you make to the DirectSound Output config are pointless and non-effective when playing back WMA files.

[Edit: June 2005]

Note: DirectSound Output (if selected) is now used again for WMA playback as from Winamp 5.092 and later

[/Edit]

__________________________________________________________

Which brings me to your config....

Those settings are way over the top.
You will notice it if you try play any MP3, WAV, OGG, MOD file.

Your main buffer is currently set to 20 seconds.
That means 20 seconds of audio will be buffered into memory.
The default setting is 2000ms (2 seconds)

If the problem is with WMA only, and not Audio CD...
before playing anything, all you will need to do now is:

1. Go back into DirectSound Output config
2. Set the main Buffer size back to 2000ms
3. Set Prebuffer back to 500ms
4. Set 'Buffer ahead on track change' to somewhere between 500ms and 1500ms
(start low at first, and increase only if necessary)
5. Other tab: Set cut-off value to -35dB (default is -40)

Ok everything

Assuming this was a gapless mix CD that you ripped to WMA,
you should now have perfect gapless WMA playback.

As from Winamp 5.08e, you can no longer use in_dshow or an older version of in_wm.dll to playback drm-protected WMA files. Therefore, if the same fixes for gapless mp3 playback don't work, then alas you are out of luck.

If your WMA files are NOT drm-protected, then you can still use any of the above workarounds (in_dshow.dll or older in_wm.dll).

What this means is that your WMA files are encrypted with some extra code which links to a DRM license stored on your pc.

The DRM protection means that the WMA file is licensed to only play on the pc that it was encoded on. In other words, you won't be able to copy it to another pc, because it won't play on any other pc but yours.

If you lose that drm license or if you reformat or upgrade windows then you will lose those licencses in the process, thus rendering your WMA files useless.

DRM-Protection is also used by sites/services like Napster and Walmart.
A variation of DRM is also used by the likes of iTunes iTMS, except the encrypted format is M4P instead of WMA.
Basically, it means that you are paying money for a crippled format.

Sure, you can burn them to Audio CD with WMP9/10 (or with iTunes if M4P) and then re-rip them to MP3, or you may be able to use some other software to convert them, but by doing this you will lose even more quality (lossy compressed format to another lossy compressed format equals even more lossy result).

Lessons learnt?

1. Do NOT use Windows Media Player to rip Audio CDs to WMA.
Use any of Winamp, CDex, EAC (or any other decent ripper which uses the LAME Encoder and supports --alt-preset standard presets) to rip to MP3 instead.
Sure, you could also rip to any other decent lossy compressed format such as OGG or MPC, or a lossless compressed format such as FLAC.

Yes. All my music I copied onto the HDD before coming here so it's all in WMA format. Works like a charm now. So well, in fact, that I'm going to pay up and register (even though I don't need the extra stuff registration gives.)

For Audio CD's, wnaspi32.dll is only used if "use sonic engine" is UNCHECKED in the CD Input plugin config.
Naturally, "enable digital audio extraction" also needs to be checkmarked.
You may also need to uncheck "sample input from soundcard".
Any changes to in_cdda.dll config require a winamp restart.

Or, if you paid a large amount of money for a so-called professional sound card, if it doesn't support hardware mixing, then I'm sorry, but you were ripped off!

In the Device tab, there is a drop-down menu which lists all the available devices.
The default device is "Primary Sound Driver".
This relates to whatever device is set as default in Windows Control Panel (Sound / Multimedia > Audio tab > Playback)

AC'97 will only be an option if your motherboard uses the AC'97 onboard sound chip.
If it doesn't, then it will list whatever other sound chip your motherboard uses, or if you've got a proper pci soundcard, then it will list the soundcard device driver instead.
Alas, I can't tell you what your sound chip is unless you tell me what your pc or motherboard model # is, and I can't tell you if you have a proper pci soundcard (instead of an onboard sound chip) unless you tell me.

If you've followed the exact instructions above, then you should definitely have gapless Audio CD playback with Winamp, for gapless mix CD's that are recorded with no gaps.

For gapless mix cd's that were ripped to MP3, then as well as adding some value to the "buffer ahead on track change" slider in out_ds config (eg. somewhere between 500 and 1500ms), you also need to checkmark "remove silence at beginning/end of track" in the "Other" tab.
The default "Cut-Off" setting of -40dB should suffice, though you can try a higher value, eg. -35dB
(note, anything higher than -30dB is NOT recommended, but you can try -25dB if you really must).

If you can still hear a gap/glitch then I've no idea why. It works perfectly for the large majority of users.
I can only assume that it is either something to do with the way you ripped the cd, or a problem with your sound drivers or config, or maybe because you've installed some shabby 3rd-party replacement mp3 plugin (eg. in_mp3pro or in_mad).

The only 3rd-party mp3 replacement plugin you can use for native gapless playback support is in_mpg123,
as this has an option in its config to "strip silence", and therefore the out_ds workaround (Other tab > Remove Silence) is not required with in_mpg123.

Though "Buffer ahead on track change" value is required no matter which method you choose.

Also note, any enabled "crossfade/fade" settings in out_ds config
will override gapless playback settings.
eg. if the crossfader is turned on in the main Winamp window > config drawer > EQ
or if any value is manually set for "on start" and "on end of song" in out_ds config > Fading tab.
ie. you need to disable these two settings (fade: on start & on end of song) if you want gapless playback to work.

Hi, i am using the Nforce2 SoundStorm 5.1 sound card with 5.1 speakers. I am using Direct sound and MP3s play through all 4 speakers, but WMA files will not. I have the latest version of Winamp. I tried your fix above for it, but when i add the ;WMA to the DirectShow input plug in thing and then try to play WMA files, Winamp crashes... i click on the more info link when it crashes and it says the problem was with out_ds.dll . What am i doing wrong?? I really want to be able to play WMA files through all 4 speakers!!
- Mike

Do I have to re-rip an .mp3(4) after I make those settings ? When one track leads into the next I get a skip or repeat at the end of the track. I'm talking about where just the track number changes with no real change in the music. Any ideas ?

Tried all the above suggesstions, and they did improve things, but I still get about a 2 second or so gap when a Napster DRM WMA starts. One thing, when I turned wm_dll off, Napster files would not play. Thanks.

Well, you need in_wm.dll to be present,
otherwise you won't have any WMA playback support whatsoever.

Please read the thread again, in full, and provide all the necessary info (system specs, etc).

Also confirm that you are using Winamp 5.03 with the update patch (see sticky thread at top of this forum) and confirm whether you are definitely using in_wm.dll from the update patch.

Alas, you can't use the old in_wm or DirectShow (in_dshow.dll) workarounds (as referenced above) to play back DRM-protected WMA v9 files (of the type provided by Napster). Only the in_wm from 5.03 provides WMA9/DRM support. And the update patch includes a newer version of in_wm which fixes a few known bugs.

However, whether the latest in_wm also supports gapless playback (by using the DirectSound Output tweaks) is another issue... and one that I'm honestly not sure about. Basically, I avoid WMA like the plague, and I would certainly never pay money for DRM-protected files.

Being bored I ripped two tracks to DRMed wma using wmp9 (horrible quality even at ~192kbps vbr).

Couldn't get them to play gapless, depending on buffer settings I either got stuttering at the start of track 2 or a ~1sec pause.

Wmp9 did play them without gap.

And the moral: avoid wma or you'll have to use wmp.

International law prohibits the granting of immunities to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture. This applies not only to the actual perpetrators but also to those senior officials within the US Government who devised, planned and authorised these crimes.

Although we don't support 3rd-party plugins here,
the only buffer relevant to gapless playback is:
"buffer ahead on track change"
(set to somewhere between approx. 400ms - 1500ms).

The main buffer size should be as small as possible.
Default is 2000ms, but you could try smaller.
The higher the main buffer size, the longer it takes for EQ and DSP/FX to take effect.
Prebuffer size should also be at the minimum/default 500ms setting.

btw, the aspi-layer bears no relevance to mp3 playback.
It is only used for Digital Audio Extraction mode with Audio CD playback
(and only if "use sonic engine" is unchecked in CD plugin config).

If we made Winamp play gaplessly by default, by enabling all gapless settings in the default distro, then we'd only get the reverse response of what we're getting here, eg.How do I make my CDs/mp3's play with the 2 second gap that's meant to be there?

It's also got nothing to do with us or Winamp if you don't already have ASPI installed.

Here is my recommendation to get absolutely seamless playback (No skips, no beats missed during DJ mixes. In fact you will probably never ever notice the join unless the tracks have been ripped REALLY badly in the first place) you use the following input and output plugins.

MAD input plugin for MP3 decoding (Move Nullsofts In_mp3.dll out of the plugins folder or it will still be used).

Now try it with your favorite 'mixed' album and tell me what you think.

There is a downside. There are no options to configure in MP3Splice and I don't think it uses DirectSound at all. Also note I have not tested it on other formats like CD audio (I think it works on Ogg OK).

If only Nullsofts own input and output plugins were as good at gap removal! I dare you to get a setting in either that can come even remotely close as these two plugins across *ALL* material (You can get it perfect with Nullsofts stuff for one thing then it's completely wrong for another). Whether that be Pink Floyd or some hardhouse compilation mix

It seems I hit a nerve (In another thread). I am not bashing Nullsoft at all. I am merely offering up another solution that some may find preferable. Please feel free to test my above method on MP3, Ogg, APE, FLAC, CD audio and any other formats and see if it does the trick for you.

Ogg Vorbis, Musepack and any lossless codec that deserves the name are natively gapless.

If your mp3s were encoded with Lame you could also use in_mpg123 (and a normal output plugin) instead of in_mad.

And btw, in_mp3 is also used to decode mp4/aac so instead of moving it out of the plugins directory you should remove MP1;MP2;MP3; from its extension list (unless you also use in_mp4 from audiocoding).

International law prohibits the granting of immunities to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture. This applies not only to the actual perpetrators but also to those senior officials within the US Government who devised, planned and authorised these crimes.